Not His Omega To Love by GS Holmes

18Ethan

“You goddamn crazy son of a bitch.”

I scowled at my reflection in the mirror. Crazy was putting it mildly for what I was about to do. With one failed bonding in the bucket, I should know better than to get into another loveless bond, especially one that was already destined to end the same way as the first. Technically an annulment, as Cody had so aptly reminded me. I wasn’t going anywhere near that omega, and thus we wouldn’t require a divorce.

“You’re doing this for Cody,” I muttered.

The boy who’d walked into my life and turned it upside down. With an independent alpha son, I’d never worried as much as I did for Cody. Whenever he left the house like he’d done last night, I kept my phone close so I wouldn’t miss a call if he needed me. He didn’t go out much, though, which was perfect to keep my worries to a minimum. Still, last night had thrown me.

His friends had organized a bachelor party as if our relationship would be a normal one. Judging by how late he’d come home, they’d had a wonderful night too. Cody had brought arms full of goodies, which he’d shown me, beaming and chattering with excitement, but he’d had set aside one box he hadn’t opened.

I would have given a kidney to see what was in that box.

The chiming of my cell phone startled me, and I stopped fidgeting with my tie, which was probably a good thing. It looked like it had a few creases already. Where was that damn phone? Of course, it lay exactly where I had put it when I got dressed, smack-dab in the middle of my bed. I groaned when I swiped it open.

“Hey, Matthias.”

“Are you really going through with this?” my ex-husband asked. “I don’t see how this can be anything short of a disaster, Ethan.”

“Probably, but that’s something for me to worry about, not you.”

“Of course, I worry about it. You’re bonding with the omega our son got pregnant. You don’t see anything wrong with that?”

“You forgot to mention the pregnant omega our son wants nothing to do with,” I sighed. I’d had this conversation with him two days ago when I’d made my intentions clear to him. Just to give him a heads-up, not to seek his approval, which he seemed to think I needed.

“Exactly. Your involvement makes it difficult to achieve that.”

“Then tell me what you suggest, Matt? I’m all ears.”

He went silent. Aha, my suggestion was not only what made sense right now, but it was also the only thing any of us could come up with.

“We can afford to set him up in a nice little house, maybe in another neighborhood, and we could support the child from a distance,” he finally said. “No need for us to be hands-on.”

“But that doesn’t solve Cody’s problem of not being allowed to finish the rest of his school like he wants to.”

“It’s just two weeks left in the school year!”

“Two weeks our son is still getting to spend at school despite him playing a part in this too.” I frowned, annoyed with Matt. “I’d think as an omega, you’d see how this discrimination is unfair to Cody and why as an alpha, I’m trying to protect him.”

“But to bond with him, Ethan? Isn’t that going a bit too far?”

So, what if it did? It was nobody else’s business.

“What’s this really about, Matt?”

“It strikes me as odd how far you’re willing to stick your neck out for this omega. You didn’t even try to get me to change my mind once when I asked you for a divorce.”

Ah, so that was the problem. “That was different. I was giving you the freedom to be with someone else and to be happy. I knew I wasn’t making you happy. I would’ve been selfish to try to make you stay in an unhappy and loveless relationship because of our bond.”

“Yet you’re getting involved in another loveless relationship?”

“He needs insurance coverage for both him and the child.” Who was I convincing? Him or me? “He’ll have a hard time getting into college as an unbonded single parent. It’ll be easier for him this way, and considering his folks kicked him out, I’m the only one he has right now, and I’m not going to disappoint him. He made a mistake. So did my son, but he hasn’t felt any of the impact simply because he’s an alpha. If Cody needs a bit of support to ensure the world treats him right, then I’m going to be that support as long as he doesn’t have a problem with that.”

“Seems you have made up your mind.”

“I have, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring this up anymore. In an hour, I’m going to get married, and unless Cody calls off the wedding, it’s happening.”

“Have you given any thought to how this may affect your son?”

“This was Reggie’s idea, and he’ll be present at the bonding ceremony.” Enough was enough. “I need to get going, Matt. Thanks for the well-wishes.”

“Just… take care.”

I ended the call and turned my phone off. Although I hadn’t shared the news with my employees that I was getting hitched, my secretary and Sal knew. I’d asked them both to be my witness for the bonding ceremony before the judge, and they’d agreed. Both of them I trusted with the secret of why Cody and I were tying the knot. Since Cody and I hadn’t discussed if we were going to pretend to be a married couple in person or having my name would suffice, I’d limited the number of people I’d told the truth.

Probably should’ve worked this out before today.

I slipped my wallet into my pocket, took one last look in the mirror, and deemed myself passable, then went to Cody’s room and knocked on the door.

“Coming.” He sounded breathless, and nervous energy fluttered in my stomach.

The door opened, and Cody appeared, dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a white long-sleeved shirt, his hair combed back. His face was slightly rounder than I remembered. That wasn’t the only difference in his appearance since the first time we met. His baby bump pressed against the front of his shirt.

“Oh, you look handsome,” he said, then promptly blushed. “I mean the suit. I’ve never seen you in a suit before. So formal. You look different.”

I gave a little bow. “Thank you. Are you ready?”

His face fell. “I don’t know. I never picked out a jacket, but now I think maybe I should have. I’m showing.”

“And you look wonderful. Everyone present, excluding the judge, already knows you’re pregnant, so it won’t surprise anyone.”

“That’s true. Then I guess it’s just the stupid tie. I can’t get it to look proper.”

“I’ll help you.”

He stepped back, and I entered the bedroom. I hadn’t been inside since he moved in, but I wasn’t surprised to find a neatly kept room with the bed made. His books were stacked on the floor against the wall, and his laptop perched on top of them. How stupid of me. I should have gotten him a computer desk and a bookshelf.

“Here. See, it’s all crooked.”

I rescued the tie from him and removed the knot he’d formed. “All right, let’s add the finishing touch to this nicely wrapped package.”

He smiled at me, and I smiled right back. Good, he wasn’t nervous about the wedding. He knew the score. He had nothing to be anxious about. The months would slip by so quickly our marriage would be over before he—and I—knew it.

“We never talked about whether we’ll let people know it’s a bonding of convenience or let them think otherwise.” I wrapped one end of the tie around the other. “I’ll leave the decision up to you. It doesn’t matter to me either way.”

“Well, maybe our close friends can know.” He shrugged, and I lost the grip on one end of the tie. “Sorry. I mean, they already know, but I don’t think it’s anybody else’s business, do you?”

“You’re right about that. For everyone else, we’re bonded without explanation.”

“Exactly.”

“I was also thinking.” I pulled the long end of the tie through the opening I’d made. “I know we said we’d give this a year for you and the baby to adjust and to benefit from having an alpha in your lives, but you have college to think about too. If you need to remain bonded for a while longer, until you complete your degree, that’s fine by me.”

“Oh no, it’s bad enough I’m stealing a year of your life. A year you could have met someone and fallen in love for real.”

Impossible. I already was. I froze, my hands stilled around his tie. Holy shit, I’d gone and fallen in love with this omega. How the hell had I let that happen?

“That’s sweet, but I don’t even know how I’ll get into college. I deferred my position for a year. I think that’ll give me enough time to see if I’ll be able to afford it or not.”

“You will be because I’m going to pay for it.” He gasped, but I ignored it and tugged on his tie, straightening it. “There, now you’re perfect.”

“Pay for my tuition?” he murmured. “No way. I can’t allow you to do that.”

“You can. I can afford it, and I didn’t mean for us to be bonded in name only.” I blinked and swallowed. “I mean, I'll take good care of you and this baby. College is something you meant to do after high school, and you shouldn’t have to give up on that dream because you got pregnant.”

“It’s a lot.”

“Not really. Reggie got a scholarship, so he saved me that expense.” I shrugged. “But we can talk about that later. Let’s focus on making you a part of this family legally so more avenues will be open to you.”